Castle Talk with Castle Bridge Media

Tonight we’re chatting with Chris Baugh, director of Boys from County Hell, new to Shudder streaming service, described as a rowdy irish vampire horror-comedy.
Strange events unfold in Six Mile Hill – a sleepy Irish town that claims to have been traveled by the famed author Bram Stoker – when construction on a new road disrupts the alleged grave of Abhartach, a legendary Irish vampire said to have inspired Dracula. Deadly and sinister forces terrorize the work crew led by Francie Moffat and his son Eugene, a free-spirited young man who prefers pints to pickaxes, and they're forced to fight to survive the night while exposing the true horror that resides in the town’s local myth.

Starring Jack Rowan (Peaky Blinders), Nigel O’Neill (The Bookshop), Louisa Harland (Derry Girls), Fra Fee (Animals, the upcoming Hawkeye series) and John Lynch (The Terror, The Banishing) and Michael Hough (the upcoming Chapelwaite series), and written and directed by Chris Baugh (Bad Day for the Cut).

BOYS FROM COUNTY HELL is produced by Brendan Mullin of Six Mile Hill Productions and Yvonne Donohoe for Blinder Films, and executive produced by Katie Holly for Blinder Films, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Rian Cahill for Automatik, and Lesley McKimm for Screen Ireland. The film is a co-production between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and was supported by Endeavor Content, Screen Ireland, Northern Ireland Screen, and Egg Post Production.

Check out the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vssvkhvq6O0&authuser=0

Tonight we’re chatting with debut author Mia P. Manansala about her culinary cozy mystery, ARSENIC AND ADOBO, which launches May 4 with Berkley.
Mia Manansala is the winner of the 2018 Hugh Holton Award, the 2018 Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award, the 2017 William F. Deeck - Malice Domestic Grant for Unpublished Writers, and the 2016 Mystery Writers of America/Helen McCloy Scholarship. She's also a 2017 Pitch Wars alum and 2018-2020 mentor.
Drawing from her own Filipino heritage, Mia introduces readers to Lila Macapagal, a young woman who is stuck working in her Tita Rosie’s Filipino restaurant after enduring a streak of the worst clichés life has to offer. But Lila’s bad luck just continues when an ex-boyfriend who has been posting horrible reviews online about her tita’s cooking suddenly drops dead in the middle of the restaurant. After becoming the prime suspect in the case, Lila must take it upon herself to find the real killer—and hopefully save the future of her family’s restaurant as well.

Jason chats with Ryan Spindell, writer and director of the horror anthology THE MORTUARY COLLECTION, for which Clancy Brown just won a Chainsaw Award from Fangoria. THE MORTUARY COLLECTION is now out on VOD, VOD, Digital HD, DVD and Blu-ray on April 20, 2021.

Tonight we’re chatting with Rebecca Fraser, author of the new collection Coralesque and Other Tales to Disturb and Distract
Rebecca Fraser is an Australian author who writes genre-mashing fiction for both children and adults. Her short stories, flash fiction, and poetry have appeared in numerous award-winning anthologies, magazines, and journals, and her first novel Curtis Creed and the Lore of the Ocean was released in 2018 (also with IFWG Publishing Australia). Coralesque and Other Tales to Disturb and Distract is her first collection.
Rebecca holds an MA in Creative Writing, and a Certificate of Publishing (Copy Editing & Proofreading). To provide her muse with life’s essentials, Rebecca copywrites and edits in a freelance capacity, and operates StoryCraft Creative Writing Workshops for aspiring authors of every age and ability. However, her true passion is storytelling.
Say g’day at writingandmoonlighting.com on Facebook @writingandmoonlighting or Twitter and Instagram @becksmuse

CORALESQUE
A surfer who becomes horrifyingly one with the sea. A new mother’s devastating search for belonging. A stone gargoyle with a violent history. A fisher boy who discovers the real cost of forbidden love. A farmer whose delight at drought-breaking rain quickly turns to terror. A hedonistic rock star who manifests double trouble. A young girl’s chilling sacrifice for justice. A dirty ex-cop with a dirtier secret. An unscrupulous mayor’s solution to rid her city of the homeless…
These are just some of the characters you’ll meet in this collection of dark offerings.
From the harsh terrain of the Outback, to the depths of the Pacific Ocean, the wilds of Tasmania, dystopian futures, enchanted lands, and the familiarity of suburbia, Coralesque and Other Tales to Disturb and Distract takes readers on a journey into unsettling, unforgiving, and unforgettable territory.
Find the publisher’s page here: https://ifwgaustralia.com/title-coralesque-and-other-tales-to-disturb-and-distract/
The publishers at IFWG would like you to know that if you would like to enter a drawing for a free print (or mobi/epub) copy tonight’s book, all you need to do is subscribe to the IFWG newsletter and fill out details for the drawing – just go to ifwgaustralia.com/treasures.

Tonight we’re chatting with Kathryn Hore, author of the new thriller The Wildcard.

Kathryn is a Melbourne writer of speculative and thriller fiction with a taste for blending dark genres in twisting ways. Her short fiction has been published in several anthologies and magazines, including Aurealis and Midnight Echo. When not writing, she works in archives, libraries and records management, and has a couple of small children to keep her busy. The Wildcard is her debut novel.
THE WILDCARD
Jem doesn’t do risk. He doesn’t play games with chance. At least not until his ex-girlfriend shows up on his doorstop in tears and tricks him into signing for an impossible debt.
Thrust into an underworld of card players who bet anything they can think of – favours, information, secrets, even coffee – Jem has to figure his way out of a debt he doesn’t understand, in a world where the rules are twisting, complex and never explained. Relying only on a woman who plays life like she plays a game of poker, and drawn to a young man who offers temptations Jem’s not sure he can trust, there is only one thing he is clear on: the consequences of losing in this crowd. Because the last guy to owe a debt like his was just found floating face down in the ocean, and if Jem doesn’t sort this out fast, he could be next.

Find the book at the IFWG site: https://ifwgaustralia.com/title-the-wildcard/

Piper Mejia is an advocate for New Zealand writers and liter¬ature.¬ Her¬ short ¬fiction ¬has ¬been¬ published ¬in ¬a¬ range¬ of¬ magazines ¬and ¬anthologies, ¬including ¬Room Enough for Two, which¬ appeared¬ in¬ the¬ Sir¬ Julius¬ Vogel¬ Award-winning¬ anthology¬ Te Korero Ahi Ka¬(2018).¬ A ¬collection -of ¬her ¬original¬ short ¬stories,¬ The Better Sister,¬ was ¬published¬ by ¬Breach ¬in¬ 2020.¬ In¬ addition¬ to¬ writing,¬ Piper¬ is ¬a ¬founding ¬member¬ of¬ Young¬NZWriters ¬–¬a ¬non-profit ¬organization ¬dedicated ¬to¬ providing¬ writing¬ and¬ publishing¬ opportunities¬ for¬ young¬ writers. ¬As ¬a ¬child, ¬Piper ¬stayed ¬up ¬late ¬ laughing¬ at ¬horror¬ films.¬ As¬ an¬ adult¬ she¬ has¬ never¬ lost¬ her¬ love¬ for¬ science¬ fiction¬ and¬ horror,¬ two¬ genres¬ that¬ continues¬ to¬ ask¬ the¬ question “What if...”

The blurb:

Nobody likes you when you're the ugly new kid. A hoodie and a new foster home won't hide the creeping dread that you are dangerous. So, when you're offered the chance to meet a grandfather you never knew, you jump on a plane to the bush-covered mountains of New Zealand.
Slate longs for a home when he finds himself living among an ancient race masquerading as travelling performers. Dispossessed and disillusioned, Slate fears being trapped in a life hiding from the world; one his own father had to run from.
However, the decision to stay or leave is taken from him when he is held captive by hunters on the trail of the ultimate game trophy. Tortured and alone Slate fears that the only way to escape is to become the monster he never wanted to be.

The publishers at IFWG would like you to know that if you would like to enter a drawing for a free print (or mobi/epub) copy tonight’s book, all you need to do is subscribe to the IFWG newsletter and fill out details for the drawing – just go to ifwgaustralia.com/treasures.

Tonight we’re chatting Sebastian Fitzek, author of the new book The Package.
Sebastian Fitzek is Germany's most successful author of psychological thrillers. His books have been sold 11 million copies, been translated into more than twenty-four languages, and are the basis for international cinema adaptations and theater adaptations. Fitzek was the first German author to be awarded the European Prize for Criminal Literature. He lives with his family in Berlin.
THE PACKAGE is a new psychological thriller from Sebastian Fitzek releasing in the U.S. on February 4, 2021. Sebastian is one of Germany’s most successful authors of psychological thrillers whose books have sold 11 million copies, and have been translated into more than 24 languages.

Tonight we’re chatting with Emily B Martin, author of Floodpath, brand new from HarperVoyager.
Martin’s eco-fantasy (cli-fi) novels, which are accessible to adult and YA readers alike, are “an exciting take on the fantasy genre with its mix of Wild West and a tempered glass court” (-Jeff Wheeler.) In FLOODPATH, Martin’s worldbuilding expands to incorporate new characters, new countries, and new intrigue.

The epic fantasy adventure begun in Sunshield races to its thrilling conclusion in FLOODPATH, an imaginative finale in which the fate of four extraordinary young people—and their nations—will be decided.

Tonight we’re chatting with David Bowles is an award-winning Mexican-American author and translator from south Texas, where he teaches at the University of Texas Río Grande Valley. To his two dozen books, he's just added the space opera THE BLUE-SPANGLED BLUE from Castle Bridge Media, as well as just this week, a translation of THE IMMORTAL BOY by Francisco Montana Ibanez.
We talk at length about BIPOC SF and the responsibilities of the author.
THE BLUE-SPANGLED BLUE
Jitsu. Once the center of human expansion into distant space, this world was isolated for the better part of a century, a theocratic government rising to fill the void left by its former corporate owners. Now, as Jitsu begins to open itself to the rest of humanity, Brando D’Angelo di Makomo accepts a teaching position on the arid planet. He finds himself drawn to controversial architect Tenshi Koroma and her religious reform movement. As he learns more about Tenshi's faith—The Path—Brando decides to accept its tenets, to shatter his identity and rebuild himself so that he can be worthy of a soul. But the dogmatic struggles on Jitsu are a mask for the machinations of a diabolical mind, and the professor’s life will be forever altered by the cruelty of Tenshi’s enemies. In the aftermath, Brando will find a deadly new Way along The Path. And his steps will echo throughout history.

Tonight we’re chatting with Jack Dann, author of the alternate-Venice-fantasy book SHADOWS IN THE STONE from IFWG.
SHADOWS IN THE STONE
The author of The Age #1 bestselling novel The Memory Cathedral returns to Renaissance Italy with a transcendent vision of the ultimate battle between good and evil.
In Shadows in the Stone Jack Dann creates a fully-realized, living, breathing universe, a universe where the Vatican is in Venice, Jehovah is really a lesser god known as the Demiurge, and the magus John Dee’s experiments with angels are true and repeatable. Here you’ll discover a nun who has the expertise and agility of a Ninja warrior, the reincarnated snake goddess known as the Daughter of Light, the famed Florentine magician Pico Della Mirandola, a young magus who is part stone, the Knights Templar of the Crimson Cross, the sapphire tablet: the most secret of the Dead Sea scrolls, and a 15th Century dirigible kept aloft by imprisoned souls. Here you’ll find wild adventure and Machiavellian subtlety, treason and heroism, love and carnality, joy and loss, magic, machines, the cosmic machinations of angels, demons, gods, and half-gods; and the absolutely breathtaking vistas that are their battle grounds.
New York Times bestselling author Kim Stanley Robinson has compared Shadows in the Stonewith Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, calling it “such a complete world that Italian history no longer seems comprehensible without [Dann’s] cosmic battle of spiritual entities behind and within every historical actor and event.”
Join Jack Dann’s protagonists—Louisa Morgan and Lucian Ben-Hananiah—and the fellowship of The Dark Companions in their apocalyptic battle against the Demiurge—described in the forbidden Gnostic texts as the demon god Yaldabaoth… and known to us as Jehovah.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jack Dann has written or edited over seventy-five books, including the inter- national bestsellers The Memory Cathedral, The Rebel, The Silent, Bad Medicine, and The Man Who Melted. His work has been compared to Jorge Luis Borges, Roald Dahl, Lewis Carroll, Castaneda, Ray Bradbury, J. G. Ballard, Mark Twain, and Philip K. Dick. Library Journal called Dann “...a true poet who can create pictures with a few perfect words,” Best Sellers said that “Jack Dann is a mind-warlock whose magicks will confound, disorient, shock, and delight,” and bestselling author Morgan Llwelyn called his novel The Memory Cathedral “a book to cherish, a validation of the novelist’s art and fully worthy of its extraordinary subject. I can only say Bravo!”
Jack is a recipient of the Nebula Award, the World Fantasy Award (twice), the Australian Aurealis Award (three times), the Chronos Award, the Darrell Award for Best Mid-South Novel, the Ditmar Award (five times), the Peter McNamara Achievement Award and also the Peter McNamara Convenors’ Award for Excellence, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the Premios Gilgames de Narrativa Fantastica award. He has also been honored by the Mark Twain Society (Esteemed Knight). He is the co-editor, with Janeen Webb, of Dreaming Down-Under, which won the World Fantasy Award, and the editor of the sequel Dreaming Again. He is the managing director of PS Australia, and his latest anthology Dreaming in the Dark is the first volume in the new line: it won the World Fantasy Award in 2017. Dr. Dann is also an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow in the School of Communication and Arts at the University of Queensland.